A Tory MP proposes dividing the country into zones, some of which could involve
the Taliban
Brian Brady, Jonathan Owen
09 September 2012
Hamid Karzai, above, would be a figurehead under plans by MP Tobias Ellwood
Afghanistan could be carved into eight separate "kingdoms" – with some of them
potentially ruled by the Taliban – according to a controversial plan under
discussion in London and Washington. Code-named "Plan C", the radical blueprint
for the future of Afghanistan sets out reforms that would relegate President
Hamid Karzai to a figurehead role.
Devised by the Conservative MP and Foreign Office aide Tobias Ellwood, it warns
that the country faces a "bleak" future when it is left to fend for itself. Mr
Ellwood claims that a "regionalised" state under a powerful new prime minister
would tackle the weak government, tribal disputes and corruption which many fear
could plunge Afghanistan into chaos when the International Security Assistance
Force (Isaf) withdraws at the end of 2014.
Senior government sources confirmed that Plan C – Finding a political solution
to Afghanistan had been presented to the Foreign Secretary, William Hague, and
discussed with officials at the White House. Mr Ellwood, a former captain in the
Royal Green Jackets, has also discussed the plan with Pakistani government
officials in London. But experts criticised the attempt to "impose" a democratic
system on Afghanistan, and insisted that coalition leaders should be
concentrating on a military exit strategy that would enable them to withdraw
their forces by the 2014 deadline.
Wazhma Frogh, executive director of Afghanistan's Research Institute for Women,
Peace and Security, said: "Who is the British MP sitting in London and deciding
for Afghanistan? It should be us, the people of this country, deciding if we
want to divide into states or collapse as a nation. I am surprised to see an MP
of a democratic country creating the future and showing solutions for a country
in which he doesn't have to live and where his children will not have to live."
Mr Ellwood, who now works as a parliamentary aide to the Foreign Office minister
David Lidington, claimed a political settlement – even one that includes the
Taliban – was necessary to guarantee Afghanistan's long-term stability.
"Isaf may be confident that its revised security strategy is finally working,
but the insurgent threat will not be removed by force alone," he said in the
report, seen by The Independent on Sunday. "The Taliban will not enter into a
meaningful dialogue if there is no feasible political strategy within which they
can participate... An alternative solution [offers] a less centralised political
structure that better reflects the ethnic make-up of the country, the already
established economic hubs and the regional interest of the Taliban, who might
then be encouraged towards a political settlement."
The plan divides Afghanistan into eight zones, based around the "economic hubs"
of Kabul, Kandahar, Herat, Mazar-i-Sharif, Kunduz, Jalalabad, Khost and Bamyan.
The areas would be administered by a council representing different ethnic
groups and overseen by one or more foreign countries. Mr Ellwood also claims
that creating a post of prime minister, with many of the "disproportionate"
powers currently held by the President, would help allay concerns over the man
who has been in charge of the country for almost eight years.
But Thomas Ruttig, co-director of the Afghanistan Analysts Network, said:
"Splitting the country into such regions will result in the empowerment of what
we have started calling 'local (or regional) power brokers' and what was known
as 'warlords' before, whose misrule between 1992 and 1996 caused the rise of the
Taliban in the first place."
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/controversial-plan-to-split-up-afghanistan-8120167.html